Catching the Edges
by ThePaperBagPrincess
Summary: Sometimes there is laughter. Sometimes there is pain. Sometimes they take to the air and fly, and sometimes they fall. Drabble collection.
1. Alphabet

_I began this collection by writing for drabble tag in the Next Gen Fanatics Forum. I fell in love with this pairing, and when I had three linked drabbles for it, decided to write a few more and make it a collection. Each drabble was written with one prompt (the title), most of which were given to me by Mad (limegreenrocks) and Jane (sherbetgirl), so this fic is dedicated to them. _

_All drabbles are in the same timeline, so form part of the same story (which should hopefully be a more or less complete story if you manage to put them all together), but they are not chronological. In fact, I decided to put them in alphabetical order, which appropriately means that the first one is **Alphabet**. _

_Enjoy!_

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**Alphabet**

His tongue is making patterns on her neck.

She giggles at him, her eyes bright and her breath coming fast, unable to quite believe this is happening.

Lysander Scamander is kissing her. And she knows he's a little bit drunk (so's she, but don't tell anyone, because she's a prefect and she thinks he's too drunk himself to have noticed) but she also knows that he's not drunk enough to be doing this unless he means it. Because they're best friends, and you don't kiss your best friend for no reason unless you're _very_ drunk.

_She_ kissed _him_, which surprises her, because she doesn't usually do things like that. But Merlin, she's been waiting for him to do it for ages, and he keeps just... not.

Only now he is, but she's really not sure what he's doing... So she asks him.

He pulls away and grins, and the only way she can describe his expression is _exhilarated_.

"I'm writing the alphabet."

She raises her eyebrows.

"With your tongue?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Why not? Don't you like it?"

This is a very good point, so she just grins at him and leans in so that he can resume. A few moments later, though, she pulls away again.

"Lysander..."

"Hmm?"

"You missed out 'S.'"


	2. Brilliance

**Brilliance**

He tells her the plan, and waits for her to admire his brilliance.

He should have known better.

First of all she frowns. Then she says, "You'll get into trouble _again_, Lysander."

Then she points out everything that is wrong with his brilliant plan to get revenge on Frankie Longbottom for her horrible prank involving niffler dung and his sock drawer, and exactly why it won't work, and how he could improve it. And she finishes with, "And the whole thing's stupid anyway. Frankie's your friend, and you'll only both end up in detention. It's the worst plan I ever heard."

Which annoys him, because he thinks his plan is great, actually, and anyway she's obviously completely missed the point, so he stalks off in disgust to go and muse on his brilliance without any wet blankets to ruin it.

An hour later, he has come to the conclusion that maybe his plan wasn't quite perfect, and that maybe her ideas will improve it slightly.

The following evening, when he and Frankie are both sitting in detention, he wonders whether Molly Weasley is ever wrong.


	3. Cabin by the Sea

_Possibly not quite what you meant by this prompt, Maddy. We don't really have what you meant by 'cabin' in Britain..._

_Also, I've remembered I promised a shoutout to Kriti (prettykitty999), because she has just recently come to this pairing from being a Domsander/Lilysander fan, and I want to help with the conversion. ;-) So if you're reading, dear, this is also for you._

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**Cabin by the Sea**

Lysander is an idiot. He doesn't have a truly romantic bone in his body, he makes everything into a joke and shies away from serious topics like the teenage boy he isn't any more (since his twentieth birthday a few weeks ago), he is thoughtless and impulsive and completely oblivious a lot of the time.

Molly knows all this to be true. So how does he manage to make everything perfect all the time, without even trying? She knows that this last bit is an exaggeration; there have been some disastrous 'dates' over the years, but this time he has managed something wonderful. And they aren't even in some exotic destination; it's just an old fishing boat parked on a piece of lonely Scottish coast, which someone has done up as the smallest, cosiest place to spend a holiday ever. The cabin is so small that Lysander can't really stand up in it but, to be honest, when they're inside, they're mostly not standing up, so it hardly matters.

And somehow, they have picked the one week of the summer that Scotland has decided to have a heat wave, and every day is hot and sunny and the sky is blue and cloudless; something she never remembers happening for a week on end when they were at school here.

It's absolutely perfect. And they're only here because it was the cheapest place he could find.


	4. Falling

**Falling**

This isn't how it's meant to be.

He's Lysander, the joker, the funnyman, the one who never takes anything seriously. He isn't meant to have deep feelings, and he definitely isn't supposed to fall in love.

And she's Molly, the sweet one, the innocent, who always laughs at his jokes (except the dirty ones, because she doesn't really get them).

He didn't even realise he was falling until he saw her in the library with Michael Dalrymple. They were very close together, hands touching, and he stood still suddenly, a black hole opening underneath him as he watched her eyes light up, and she laughed, those bloody dimples flashing in and out. She laughed at _someone else's_ joke, and that shouldn't make him as jealous as it has done.

Lysander turned and walked out of the library and punched the wall so hard that his knuckles are bleeding now.

And he knows that he's fallen into that black hole, and there are no hand holds to climb out again.


	5. Fireworks

**Fireworks**

It's Bonfire Night and the huge communal fire is lighting everyone's faces in a hot orange glow.

"We shouldn't be here."

Her cheeks are pink and her eyes are sparkling, although she's trying to look stern, because she's a prefect after all.

He grins at her and grabs her hand.

"There's loads of things we shouldn't do, but we always do them anyway."

She blushes at the reminder.

"This is harmless," he points out, "It's just more fun to sneak out. And if we'd told them, they'd all have wanted to come too," he places his mouth very close to her ear and whispers, "and I want you all to myself."

She shivers and leans into him as the first firework explodes in a dizzying dance of green stars. And she wonders how Lysander always manages to make fireworks.


	6. Garden Pond

**Garden Pond**

Lysander Scamander's a little bit crazy. He stands there in the garden pond, his sandy-gold curls all over everywhere, and she doesn't know what to make of him. She likes quiet, well-ordered, sensible things, and he's none of those. But he's just come back from Borneo with his mum and dad and brother, and he hasn't been in England since he was two, which was six years ago, and he's come to the Burrow for Sunday Dinner with them all, and he's the same age as her, so of course she's expected to look after him and make friends with him.

Lorcan's easy. He's a little bit crazy too, but he's quite happy sitting on the front step reading a book about stars. Lysander, on the other hand, never seems to stay still for two seconds and his antics make her nervous. She tries to persuade him to come out of the pond, but he just stands there, laughing at her. Molly doesn't usually like it when people laugh at her, and people who misbehave worry her. So why, when she looks at Lysander Scamander's sparkling blue eyes, does she have to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing too?


	7. Invisibility

**Invisibility**

She might as well be invisible for all the notice he takes of her. Oh, he talks to her, because they've been friends ever since that day they met at the Burrow as eight-year-olds, and Lysander ended up in the pond. But he doesn't notice that her eyes light up every time she looks at him. He doesn't notice that her laugh is always a bit brighter at his jokes than at anyone else's. He doesn't notice that she's a girl, and why should he? She's short and plump with annoying wiry curls and too many freckles. She's not the sort of girl people generally notice.

So when Michael Dalrymple comes and sits with her in the library, and is nice and funny and sweet and looks at her the way she looks at Lysander, she actually believes it can work.

She doesn't see Lysander walk in. She doesn't see the blank shock on his face, and she doesn't see him turn around and walk straight back out again. She's looking at Michael, and Lysander is invisible


	8. Neighbour

**Neighbour**

It's nevernevernever going to happen. He has to convince himself of that, and then get over it. Because this isn't him – this stupid, miserable mess who always has one girl on his mind.

During the day, he smiles and smiles until it hurts, trying to be normal, and it works; only Lorcan knows that something's wrong. At night, he lies awake for hours, torturing himself by thinking about it.

He has to get over it, and the pretty blonde girl down the street is a good distraction. She's a Muggle, and her straight primrose-coloured hair and blue eyes are about as different from Molly Weasley's copper curls and long-lashed, shining hazel ones as they could be.

Until bloody Frankie Longbottom catches them one day and goes and tells Molly. And he'd like to think she cries in private at the news, because her bright smile and her cheerful teasing about it hurts his heart.

He gives up after that, because every time he kisses his blonde neighbour, he's imagining _her_.


	9. Scar

**Scar**

There is a scar on her knee, and sometimes she looks at it, just to remember where and how she got it.

She is nine years old, and she has her eyes closed.

"No!"

"Come on, Molly!"

"Go away, Lysander! I'm not jumping off it!"

"It's easy! I'll catch you!"

She opens her eyes and looks down at him doubtfully. It's not that she's scared of heights. But it's rational to be scared of jumping off heights. You can hurt yourself doing that.

"I'll catch you," he repeats persuasively.

"You won't," she tells him decisively, "You'll drop me."

"I won't!"

And she jumps, even though she knows he's wrong. And he is, and he does drop her (because she's a solid child and not much shorter than he is at that age). And she looks up, tears prickling at her eyes and blood flowing from her knee, and sees his mortified face and hears his whispered apology.

And she grins, despite the pain.

"Who was right?"

Sometimes, she looks at it to remind herself that she _can_ be a real Gryffindor in the face of pain. At other times, she looks at it simply to remind herself that when it comes to Lysander, she's almost always right.


	10. Second Place

**Second Place**

He's never ever told anyone, but he hates being second place.

Everyone in the world sees fun, easygoing Lysander who never minds anything, but that's because fun and easygoing are the only things he can ever be the best and the first at.

He was second place to Lorcan, because he was ten minutes younger, and that seemed to set the tone for the whole of his life really. Lorcan got the better grades, Lorcan got the first girlfriend, Lorcan got the Prefect's badge, hell Lorcan even lost his virginity first, although Lysander tries not to know that.

And now he's second place to Michael Dalrymple, because Dalrymple's got Molly.

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Nobody's ever known, but she hates being second place.

Everyone in the world sees sensible, cheerful Molly, but that's because being cheerful about everything is her defence.

She's the younger sister, so she's always had to follow Lucy. And Lucy is the beautiful one, the talented one, the one who might cause their parents to rip their hair out but is also their pride and joy. Molly is the one they will always worry about second, because Molly is always sensible and cheerful. Lucy makes waves, and Molly is left floundering in her wake.

The only person she thought she was first with was Lysander, and now he's seeing that blonde Muggle girl, so she's second place again.

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Just once, it would be nice to be first.


	11. Snowflake

**Snowflake**

He brushes the snowflake out of her hair with a touch that is surprisingly gentle, but it is swiftly replaced by half a dozen more, and he gives up the losing battle with a laugh.

"Who'd have thought? Sensible, rational Molly standing outside in the freezing cold just to watch the snow."

She glances at him, a little bit embarrassed, but not really because it's Lysander.

"I know," she says teasingly, "It's usually you who wants to do crazy things. But snow's special. Don't you think?"

He raises his eyebrows.

"We could watch it just as easily from inside." He is testing her, and she knows it. Because their roles are reversed; it's usually her pointing out the sensible option, and him insisting on the ridiculous one. He's always known that this side of Molly existed, but she's only started to let him see it recently – and he likes it.

"Not the same," she murmurs, and he smiles, and leans down to kiss the snowflake that's just landed on her nose, melting it under his lips.

"No. Not the same at all."


	12. Unexpected

**Unexpected**

The party has been a good one, and Lysander is happy. Exams are over, Gryffindor has won the Quidditch cup, the summer holidays start tomorrow, the alcohol is flowing and Molly has broken up with that idiot Michael Dalrymple.

Wait, scratch that last one. It shouldn't make him as happy as it does, because she was miserable over it, and actually messed up her Arithmancy exam because of it (or so she thinks; he's sceptical).

Anyway, he's more than a little bit drunk, and somehow he's ended up sitting on a sofa with her, sort of leaning against her and talking about crazy plans for the summer, now that they're both seventeen and have their Apparition Licenses. And she's laughing at his nonsensical ideas and he thinks that after all, that's the thing that makes him happiest – seeing her smile again, especially since she's smiling at _him_ and not bloody Dalrymple.

When their lips meet, it's so unexpected that it takes him a few moments to realise what's happening, because in his imagination, it was always him who made the first move, not her. But then he's kissing her like there's no tomorrow, because he doesn't know where this came from (probably a firewhisky bottle) and he doesn't know where it's going (probably nowhere), but right now he doesn't really care.


	13. Waterfall

**Waterfall**

"Come on!" he shouts, to be heard over the sound of roaring water. She looks at him, and his face is alight with excitement. She is exhasuted, has cramp in her side from the speed at which they've been rushing uphill, and is soaking wet from all the spray.

And this is his idea of fun.

"Come on, Moll," he says, more gently and persuasively, and he grabs her hand and pulls gently, "We're half way there. Don't you want to get to the top?"

"Only half way?" she gasps at him, "Remind me why I agreed to climb a waterfall with you, Lysander."

"Because you love me," he says lightly, grinning at her, and her heart flips over, because it's true but she's never told him that.

She straightens up, squares her shoulders and takes a deep breath.

"All right. Because I love you."

"Yes!" his face breaks out into a grin, and he begins to tug her up the hill again. Then he stops and looks back at her, searching her face, "Wait. Were you serious there?"

She just looks at him, although her poppy-red cheeks might be giving her away. _Are_ giving her away in fact, because she sees an answering flush in his as he tilts his head to one side.

"Oh. In that case... I love you too," he squeezes her hand gently, and before she can respond, he turns around and begins to pull her up the hill again.

And suddenly, she isn't tired any more.


	14. Wings

**Wings**

"If you had wings, what would you do?"

It is, of course, Lorcan who asks the question, in a dreamy tone of voice. It is, of course, Frankie who answers it first.

"I'd drop dungbombs on everyone I didn't like," she says with a grin. Molly rolls her eyes, because it's such a typical Frankie answer and, at fourteen, you'd have thought she'd be more mature.

"Trust you. I'd fly and see something beautiful," she adds, wondering at herself slightly because a year ago she'd have tried to rationalise it; told them that having wings was impossible, and refused to let her imagination go, "You know. Fly through the Alps, or over the Pacific or something."

She looks at Lysander, expecting him to say something similar to Frankie. He is lying on his front, but he rolls over and looks up, meeting her eyes with a sparkle.

"I'd go and fly over the sea, just low enough that I could feel the spray, and catch the edges of the waves" he says, surprising her so much her mouth falls open, and then goes on, "And then I'd go and jump into the Grand Canyon and just fall until I was almost at the bottom. Then I'd fly."

He looks up at her, that grin on his face that she can't resist.

"Come with me, Moll?"


End file.
